In the news today…
Coal:
- The Charleston Gazette-Mail carries an op-ed which states West Virginia’s influential U.S. senators both should back legislation to support coal miners and coal-fired power plant workers affected by the clean-energy transition.
- KCEN reports ERCOT forecasts wind and solar generation, but also needs data to forecast thermal power generation. Unfortunately, that data is severely lacking.
- Detroit News reports Consumers Energy plans to retire its remaining coal-fired power plants by 2025 and replace them with clean energy and the purchase of four existing natural gas plants.
Carbon Capture:
- Washington Examiner reports Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm insisted during a Senate Appropriations hearing that nuclear power, carbon capture and storage, and hydrogen are all key pieces of Biden’s climate agenda and his infrastructure plans.
Infrastructure:
- Politico reports Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said the group of bipartisan senators working with the White House on an infrastructure compromise has “had a breakthrough,” and a source familiar with the matter said a tentative agreement on a framework that lowers topline spending to $559 billion is possible. While White House press secretary Jen Psaki spoke of the meeting in question with less certainty than Collins did, she confirmed that President Joe Biden has invited the lawmakers to meet later today to discuss the potential agreement.